Section 6
Term of license; termination, suspension and revocation; renewal

Section 6. No license to mine shall be granted for a period exceeding eight years, and a license to mine shall be terminated, after a public hearing, if no mining operation has begun within two years of the date of issue of the license. After a public hearing a valid mining license may be suspended or revoked if any public health or safety hazard is determined to exist by the commissioner under the provisions of this chapter.

The operator of the mine shall have the right of renewal of license subject to public hearing. The renewal license shall be valid for a period of eight years and shall be subject to all of the provisions of this chapter. The applicant shall file for a renewal one hundred and eighty days prior to the expiration of the license. This renewal shall contain a statement of intention to remain within the existing boundaries, and if such renewal application addresses any new lands or affects any new lands, that additional portion shall be subject to the full standards applicable to the original licensing procedures of this chapter.

Any attempt to extend mining operations beyond the boundaries set forth in the original application regardless of their depth underground, shall be cause for revocation of the coal mining license. No renewal application shall interfere or forestall the reclamation procedures established under the provisions of this chapter nor in any way extend the two-year completion date for reclamation of a closed mine area.

The commissioner shall require that reclamation of the mining operation is an ongoing process and shall encourage the maximum utilization of all of the overburden unearthed during the coal mining operation. Reclamation of the mined areas and affected lands shall be completed within two years after the legal closing of the mine.